A Very British Scandal is a BBC drama that viewers deem boring and lackingluster. They praise Claire Foy and Paul Bettany, who portray ‘disgustingly unsympathetic characters’.
In tonight’s finale of the racy British drama viewers saw the Duchess of Argyll played by Claire Foy admit to her adultery in a dramatic ending scene – which was branded ‘predictable’ by viewers.
The three-part drama tells the true story of Margaret, In 1993, the Duchess Of Argyll died at age 80..
She In their 1963 toxic divorce hearing that turned out to be the most expensive and longest of all the 20th-century, her husband, the 11th Duke Argyll, branded her a nymphomaniac (played here by Paul Bettany).
He claimed she had taken on an amazing 88 lovers, including cabinet ministers, Hollywood stars and royals, during their marriage.
The BBC, despite the drama of the real story, failed to capture the humor and magic of the ‘Very English Scandal’. Many viewers were left bored.
One said, “This movie is among the worst I have ever seen. All the characters are unbelikable.”
Although many appreciated the performances of Clare Foy and Paul Bettany, the film has one scene that the Duchess imagines her husband wielding an axe.
In this scene, the Duchess receives a full day to return her possessions to Inveraray castle, which she was banned from entering during the divorce hearing.
She walks in at the crack of dawn to see her husband greet her as ‘Satan’ before grabbing an axe and branding him ‘a f*****”.
In a Shining-esque sequence, the Duke is seen hiding in a closet while his wife attacks him.
The scene shows the Duchess being given one day to retrieve her belongings from Inveraray castle – where she was banned from living during the divorce hearing. She walks in at the crack of dawn to see her husband greet her as ‘Satan’ before grabbing an axe and branding him ‘a f*****”.
In a Shining-esque sequence, the Duke is seen hiding in a closet while his wife attacks him.
One wrote: ‘Claire Foy going full ‘Shining’ in ‘A Very British Scandal’ is incredible, peak British telly. There is nothing that says Christmas more than someone shouting expletives and wielding anaxe.
A second added was: “All the awards to Claire Foy, Paul Bettany for portraying unlikable characters so well.”
After an image of her having oral sex, the Duchess admitted that she had committed adultery.
The Duchess entered her bathroom last night, where a naked male was waiting.
In the graphic scene, she performed a sexual act on a man in her Mayfair apartment while polaroid photographs are taken.
The dramatic final scene of tonight’s British drama, which featured the Duchess of Argyll as Claire Foy, saw viewers see her confess to adultery. It was a shocking ending that viewers criticized.
While viewers praised Claire and Paul’s acting, some viewers found the stories boring and unlikable.
She initially claimed that the man, whose face can’t be seen, was her husband. However, in court, she admitted it wasn’t and it was actually her.
However despite the steaminess of the moment, many of those watching slammed the TV drama as ‘depressing’, with one writing: ‘Trying to watch #AVeryBritishScandal but god, it’s a bit miserable innit? What’s the point?
Overnight viewings showed that steamy shows had not attracted viewers. However, a greater audience was tuning in to ITV to see the Family Fortunes Christmas Special as well as Paddington 2, which is aimed at children.
Although the first three episodes aired live on BBC1 over the last three nights, the complete series is available online on iPlayer starting Sunday night.
Three-part documentary series that began on Boxing Day tells Margaret’s true story. It focuses on her life in 1962, when she was exposed for her aggressive sex behavior during a high-profile divorce.
Racy: Claire stripped down in different scenes of the episode. She was wearing black lingerie during one scene.
A Very British Scandal’s viewers were critical of the dramatization and the inhumane characters. It also featured the notorious ‘headless man’, a polaroid.
She dominated the front pages as her divorce from the Duke of Argyll (portrayed by Paul Bettany) played out – featuring accusations of forgery, theft, violence, drugtaking, secret recording, bribery and the pictures.
The first episode of A Very British Scandal took viewers by surprise as they watched Foy perform three sex scenes in the first 30 minutes of the first episode – with two different men.
The film showed Margaret seducing an unmarried man at a dinner party, before she romped with her husband in his Scottish home.
The revelation comes just days following Foy’s comments about her dislike of sex scenes. She said they made her feel ‘exploited and were the most difficult thing she could do.
Only 16 minutes into episode 1, Margaret met a stranger while attending a party.
The episode also featured Paul Bettany as the Duke of Argyll, who flew into rage when Margaret refused to pay him more money.
TV’s dramatic drama about her personal life recreates the scene in which she performed a sexual act upon a Mayfair man.
Although the identities of these men are not known to the public, the scenes that Margaret is seen with her female friend later suggest that Margaret had a habitual sleep with those same men.
26 minutes later, the second sex scene was shown. This is Margaret’s arrival at Inveraray Castle, Scotland, home to Ian Campbell, Duke of Argyll.
The Duke and Louise Timpson were still married at the time they met for the first time.
However, the Duke was not able to stop his guest from sharing a bed with him. After they had sex, the Duke asked Margaret for marriage.
At 29 minutes and 29 seconds, Margaret meets Ian for the approval of her marriage.
Before they head up to Margaret’s parents, they make an uncharacteristic stop in a kitchen cupboard.
The photo: In the following scene, the actress opened a letter containing the explicit images (pictured)
16 Minutes In: A Very British Scandal premiered its first episode on Sunday, April 16, 2013. Viewers were taken by surprise when Claire enjoyed three sex scenes with two men in just 30 minutes.
24 MINUTES IN: The second sex scene took place 26 minutes into the episode. The episode begins with Margaret visiting Inveraray Castle in Scotland. This castle is the residence of Ian Campbell.
29 MINUTES
The series could feature a few sexual scenes, as Foy stated before the launch that she doesn’t like filming them and feels ‘exposed and exploited’.
Foy stated that it was hard to see the line between feeling exploited and being a woman, especially when one is forced to show sex. It is hard to not feel exploited.
It’s grim. It makes you feel vulnerable. It’s possible to pretend that you don’t feel this way, but unfortunately it is the truth.
Many Twitter users expressed their discomfort at the sight of the three scenes.
One person said, “Watching A Very British Scandal before my parents was not a good idea.” Watching sex scenes live on television with your parents is awkward, even at age 37. Thank you @PhelpsieSarah
Claire Foy will play Margaret, Duchess, of Argyll, in a Boxing Day drama. Those who had known the true aristocrat revealed to Tatler that she was’strikingly gorgeous’ and had a ghoulish’ quality similar to Morticia Adams.
The programme comes from the team behind the BBC’s A Very English Scandal, which starred Hugh Grant and Ben Whishaw as politician Jeremy Thorpe and his lover, Norman Scott – left: the Duchess of Argyll, right: Claire Foy as the Duchess
Louise Teboul said something similar: “Watching a Very British Scandal, with my Mother-in-law. [other half]”I didn’t realize there was so much sex involved in this – it was very awkward.”
Another said, “I forgot what awkward it was to watch sex scenes together with parents till A Very British Scamal tonight.”
Michael Wave laughed: “Sending thoughts, prayers and thoughts to all those who are now trapped into watching a very British scam with their families, without realising just how much sex it would contain.
Margaret was born 1912 and is the sole child of a Scottish millionaire. Lyndsy Spence describes Margaret as a ‘daddy’s boy with an absent dad, who lived with a jealous mother, trying to remind Margaret every flaw’.
Who was this headless man, you ask?
It has not been possible to identify the “Headless Man” in the scandalous photos of the duchess, which were published in divorce proceedings. The society wanted to find his identity and the duke had to be naked in order to prove that the torso was not his.
Margaret (pictured), carried the secret identity of the “headless man” to her grave
The list included Douglas Fairbanks Jr, a Hollywood actor, and Sigismund Von Braun, a German diplomat. But Duncan Sandys was the most prominent among them, Winston Churchill’s father-in-law and Minister of Defence.
A Channel 4 documentary in 2000 claimed that the ‘Headless Man’ was in fact two different men – Sandys and Fairbanks Jr – but it seems this may be one secret Margaret carried with her to her grave.
Margaret was thus born with a stammer, which Lionel Logue (King George VI’s speech therapist) treated.
At just fifteen, David Niven, a future film star, fell in love with her while she was on vacation on the Isle of Wight. After that, her father took her to London and gave her a secret termination.
Young, beautiful, she became a household name. Princes and millionaires wooed her, inviting Cary Grant, Noel Coward, and J Paul Getty to their Mayfair homes. After four unsuccessful engagements, she married Charles Sweeny (an Irish-American stockbroker).
Their 1933 wedding day was an eventful affair. Traffic was slow for three hours while 2,000 wedding guests attended Brompton oratory west London. Meanwhile, 2,000 others viewed the beautiful 28ft train of Norman Hartnell’s bridal gown.
After 14 years of being together and having Frances as a child and Brian as a husband and wife, Margaret declared that Charlie needed a partner who was “pretty dumbless” so they split in 1947.
She married Ian Douglas Campbell, 11th Duke, in 1951. They met on a Paris train station’s Gare de Nord station. He pursued her with relentless determination, realizing that she was very wealthy and his personal estate was insignificant.
She took pity on him and convinced her father to give him £100,000 to restore his family seat in Scotland, Inveraray Castle. After signing a Deed of Gift, the duke offered various items to secure his money and promised to marry her after his divorce.
The couple enjoyed luxury living, including skiing in St Moritz and sailing in the Bahamas. They also spent their time holidaying in St Tropez. Socialites and fashion designers gathered around the duchess.
However, the Duke soon revealed his true colours with accusations of addiction to drugs and gambling as well as an vile temper.
Both the couple agreed to have an open union and separate lives. Bettany asked, “How many men are you married to?” Foy answers, “How many females do you have?”
Furious at the fact that the duchess wasn’t funding him, he hired private detectives who would follow his wife. He requested divorce.
A set of blurry Polaroid shots of the Duchess of Cambridge, taken from her Mayfair bathroom mirror. These pictures showed her in her classic triple-string of pearls. One picture shows her with an unidentified lover. His head has been removed from the image and he was later known as the “Headless Men”.
Her husband allegedly used a locksmith in order to access his wife’s papers.
Many viewers noticed the act of The Duke attacking the Duke with an Axe in a dream sequence.
The prehistoric legal system of that day, and the fact that her “lovers” were often gay prevented her from sharing her story. She was not likely to be imprisoned.
A Very British Scandal focuses especially on the attitudes towards women at the time, as Margaret was vilified throughout the divorce battle for refusing to go quietly, despite being betrayed by friends and publicly shamed by society.
He filed for divorce four years later, but a verdict did not come until then. It was granted on Margaret’s grounds.
She was ordered to pay most of the £50,000 legal bill. Six weeks after his remarriage, nothing was made public about his personal affairs.
Margaret became irritable with Frances her daughter after the case. Frances did not want her to oppose the divorce. Margaret’s lavish lifestyle and bad investments led to her financial woes. After losing her home, she was eventually reconciled to Frances and moved into a London nursing home where she died without a will in 1993.
The original photograph showed Margaret – wearing nothing but a string of pearls – involved in a sexual act with a ‘headless’ man in her home.
He was not identified and the photo was taken at his neck.
A documentary from 2000 however identified Sandys as Winston Churchill’s Cabinet minister, and his son-in law Duncan Sandys.